Charley Pride, known as country music’s first Black superstar and the first Black member of the Country Music Hall Of Fame, has died. According to a press release, he passed away in Dallas, Texas today due to complications from COVID-19. He was 86.

Pride was born to poor sharecroppers in Sledge, Mississippi, the fourth of 11 children. In 1956, while pursuing a professional baseball career in the Negro leagues, he was drafted into the Army. Upon being discharged, he moved to Montana to work at a smelting plant, where he continued to play baseball.

Pride made some extra money singing at his baseball games and performing at clubs, where he was seen by country stars like Red Sovine and Red Foley and encouraged to come to Nashville. After recording some songs at Sun Studios in Memphis, he was signed to RCA by Chet Atkins.

At first, the label sent Pride’s singles to radio stations without the usual publicity photos, fearing the listening public’s response to his race. In 1967 when his song “Just Between You And Me” reached number nine on the country charts, Pride finally quit his smelting job and focused on music full time.

Pride soon began playing with the Grand Ole Opry and recorded a string of number one hits on the country charts. He won the Country Music Association’s Entertainer Of The Year award in 1971 and its Top Male Vocalist trophy in 1971 and 1972, and he also took home several Grammys.

Just last month, Pride accepted the Country Music Association’s 2020 Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award at the controversial in-person ceremony in Nashville. He delivered his final performance there, singing “Kiss An Angel Good Mornin'” with Jimmie Allen.